Matters of the Heart
by Lacuna Everspring
Summary: Duo gets a mission to assassinate a rebel leader bent on interfering with a peace conference between OZ and the Sanc Kingdom. He tells no one of this mission, for the person he is destined to kill, is none other than someone from Death's own past...
1. Chapter 1

Title: "Matters of the Heart"

Author: Lacuna Everspring

Rating: T-M (not sure yet)

Pairings: 2x5, 1x4

Warnings: This is just a little too weird…. O.o

Disclaimer: Gundam Wing characters theirs, definitely not mine… I'm just borrowing them for a bit, however they may feel a bit violated afterwards ;)

Feedback: Onegai?!?! ;) Feel free

Author's Note:

I'm trying out a couple of new pairings, I've always been a 1x2, 3x4 fan, but on a dare from my friend, whom likes 1x4, 2x5, I'm gonna give it a try, so bear with me! Also, I've never been one for writing in first person, but I wanted to give it a try also, teehee

Part One

"Matters of the Heart"

The door closed silently behind me as I stepped out into the hallway. The dimmed lights of the hallway were all that guided me as I crept down the dormitory stairs and into the foyer of the Dorm building that all five of us Gundam pilots were currently residing at.

I slung my pack higher onto my shoulder and absently tugged at the rim of my black hat, pulling it lower onto my brow. I hesitated as I reached the doorway, leading out into the outer campus.

_Destiny beckons_, I nod, determined. I pushed my way through the large double doors leading outside.

"Goodbye guys, I hope I'll get to see you again soon." I whispered, my voice devoid of my usual good humour. Right now, I had a job to do. I had a mission, a mission that I felt the other pilots were best not to know about.

It was a personal mission, of sorts. Professor G had told me that I was to go assassinate a rebel leader that was intending to destroy any hopes of a peace conference hat the two main factions in this war were planning to have. The Sanc Kingdom, represented by none other than Relena Peacecraft herself, and OZ, by Col. Treize Kushrenada, surprisingly.

The rumours, although not widely known, were that an attempt was going to made on not only one of the ambassadors, but both, in hopes so that neither side would gain peace. The assassination attempt was going to occur in four days, when the conference was supposed to go on. But, until then, a cease fire had been declared in the war, and the war had momentarily ended in light of the impending conference.

The official cease fire had been declared almost five days ago. But, to be honest, none of us pilots thought that the war would really come to an end, although we so desperately wanted all the bloodshed to stop forever.

I walked along the outer parameter of the campus, until I reached the forest. Then quickly glancing around to see if I had been followed, I hastily darted into the woods, and ran off to begin my mission.

I know its not a very long chapter, but theres more coming, so dont worry:)

Lacuna


	2. Chapter 2

-1Title: "Matters of the Heart"

Author: Lacuna Everspring

Rating: T-M (not sure yet)

Pairings: 2x5, 3x4

Warnings: This is just a little too weird…. O.o

Disclaimer: Gundam Wing characters theirs, definitely not mine… I'm just borrowing them for a bit, however they may feel a bit violated afterwards ;)

Feedback: Onegai?!?! ;) Feel free

Authors Note:

I reread through the typed up copy of this story that I had found and was retyping up to post here, and realized I had made a mistake! My Pairings on my thing above always said HeeroxQuatre, but as I reread it I realised I had left it TrowaxQuatre, so consider it revised to account for TrowaxQuatre. So sorry! :P

Part Two

"Matters of the Heart"

He awoke the next morning to find himself alone in the double-sized bed, and that was what made him instantly alert. Wufei sat up in the bed, and looked around in mild confusion and a deeply embedded dread in the pit of his stomach.

Duo was gone, the other teen's belongings and laptop were missing. That alerted him to the fact that Duo had not just gone out for an unusual early morning walk, which Duo most definitely did not do. Duo hated mornings, much preferring to sleep in as long as possible, although it was very impractical as far as Wufei was concerned. More important things could be done rather then wasting time sleeping in.

There was no note or anything within sight to explain why the braided boy had vanished. Perhaps it was just a mission that had come up at the last moment and there wasn't time to tell him t hat the had to leave. After all, Wufei reluctantly admitted that he wasn't the lightest sleeper around, Duo was, and next to Duo was most likely Heero. Wufei was easily the heaviest sleeper of all five of the pilots.

The other boy was just probably out on a mission, that would be the only logical explanation…. wasn't it? Wufei was always one to follow his instinct, and for some reason Duo being missing, even for the most logical of reasons, bothered him, and he couldn't explain for the life of himself, why.

Wufei silently stole out of bed and padded over to the dresser and pulled out a pair of clean boxers, trousers and his customary tank top, he dressed quickly and trudged out into the kitchen where Heero and Quatre were sitting quietly at the table. Heero was tuned completely into the glowing screen of his computer, like a moth attracted to light, Heero was to his laptop… an interesting analogy, but accurate none-the-less.

Quatre was nibbling at a piece of toast that was spread liberally with a jam that he assumed to be strawberry; the blond boy was gazing out the window with a far off expression.

"Have either of you guys seen Duo this morning?" Wufei asked, after he served himself a conservative bowl of plain cereal and sat down opposite of Quatre at the table.

"…Hn…" Heero glanced at him momentarily, before his eyes returned to his screen, disinterested.

Quatre looked up after a moment, as he registered that Wufei had spoken.

"I think he went out on a mission early this morning. I heard him leave with Deathscythe at around four this morning. He didn't sound too happy about being up that early from the grumbling he was doing when he passed by our room this morning." Quatre answered, with a somewhat strained smile, glancing over to Heero, then nibbling once more at his toast.

Wufei raised an eyebrow in amusement. "Is that so?" That would most certainly be Duo to complain about the inhumane time of day for him to get up at.

Quatre nodded as Trowa silently came into the kitchen.

"Morning, Trowa!" The blond smiled sunnily as Trowa came over and dropped a light kiss upon the small blond's forehead as he paused to retrieve himself a bowl of cereal and take his place beside the Sandrock pilot at the table.

"Morning." Wufei mumbled, as he glanced at his fellow pilot.

"Morning, Wufei." Trowa replied, his single visible green eye regarding him solemnly.

"Do you have any idea as to when he's due back?" Wufei returned to the conversation Quatre and he had been speaking of before Trowa had arrived.

Quatre shook his head, apologetically. "I'm sorry, no I don't. I only know that I heard him leave this morning, I didn't even know he really had a mission, but assume he must of or else he wouldn't have left so early. That's all I know, I'm sorry, Wufei."

Wufei nodded. He still wondered why Duo would have left so suddenly, without even mentioning a mission, nor leaving him a note so that he wouldn't be concerned about his sudden absence. But then again, considering how absentminded Duo could be sometimes, that probably accounted for something as well.

Wufei finished up his bowl of cereal and stood up. After washing his bowl and utensil and putting them back where he had found them, Wufei trudged back upstairs to his and Duo's room.

He flicked on his own computer, and searched out the mission that Duo had been sent on, looking for the information as to how long he should be estimated to be gone for, and the basic mission outline.

What surprised Wufei the most, after searching for about ten minutes and waiting for the computer to gather the information he had requested, the computer finally beeped indicating that it had the information that he had requested.

He brought it up, and his eyes widened in surprise.

**"There are no new missions assigned to Pilot 02 at this time. Please enter parameters again…"**

"What the hell--?" Wufei stuttered, as he snapped the laptop's power off, and strode down into the kitchen, the other pilots looked up at him in surprise at his entry.

"Wufei, what's the matter?" Quatre asked, concerned.

Wufei met Quatre's eyes firmly. "Duo hasn't had a new mission assigned to him in almost a week. There is no mission."

The blond's eyes widened. "What?! Why would he run off then? That doesn't seem like Duo."

"I don't know, Quatre. But something isn't right. We have to find Duo, now."

"I agree! I've got an odd feeling about this, that something wrong is going to happen, I can feel it." Quatre agreed.

Heero, silent up until now, commented:

"Mission, acknowledged. We will go after Duo."

The other three pilots nodded in agreement.


	3. Chapter 3

AN = So I lost most of the files for my Gundam Wing fics about 8 years ago when my last computer HD died a horrible smoking death (no lies!) But I just happened to find an old website of mine I had completely forgotten about, so although theres no "new" chapters, I did have several chapters that I just hadn't been able to post. I don't know if anyone was still following this though...

Title: "Matters Of The Heart" Part 3/?  
Author: Lacuna Everspring  
Category: Yuoi, Possible Angst?, Alternate Reality  
Rating: N/A  
Pairings: 2x5, 1x4  
Warnings: This is just a little *too* weird... O.o  
Disclaimer: Characters, theirs, not mine, but if I had a million dollars or more... ^_^  
Feedback: Much requested, onegai?

WARNINGS! I'm trying out a couple of new pairings, so just bear with me, okay? ^_^...I'm trying for a 2x5, 1x4, and a 3 as the loner...lol...this could be really interesting, ne?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Part Three

The wind pushed against my back strongly, propelling me forward. I suppose that I could take that as a good omen, of sorts.

I tugged my black jacket tighter around me against the Autumn chill, as I shivered. Curse this damn mission. I hated to have to leave without telling anyone, much less a digital trail. I had erased the entire mission profile from the Mission Database, hoping that the others wouldn't try and follow me.

The mission had been originally been assigned to Heero, for his assassination experience. But I had hacked the mission away, for personal reasons and erased all traces from Heero's computer while he was in the shower last night. Although, I knew it wouldn't be long before the scientists started questioning Heero on why he didn't respond to the latest mission, because Heero accepted *every* mission. That was when I knew that I'd be officially caught.

That's also why I left as quickly as I did, because I guess I knew that deep in my heart, that they'd interrogate me as to why stole Heero's mission. But, I wasn't ready to let them know yet, to let them know the truth, the truth as to why I desperately didn't want anyone to know where I was going, why, or for how long. I wouldn't...I couldn't tell Wufei, either.

I just hoped that they would forgive me later, for acting so out of character. Then again, ironically, Wufei was certainly going to kill me when I got back. That thought caused me to laugh.

After three hours of walking through the forest, I came upon the other side. A small sheltered valley where I had temporarily hid my Gundam. I pulled off the camophlage netting off of my Shinigami and then climbed into the cockpit with little difficulty.

After I turned the main computer of the Gundam on, I ran through several diagnostics to determine if everything was alright, it was. I engaged the boosters and my Shinigami stood up. After a moment of final preparations, my Shinigami and I left, to continue on on our mission.

"It's gone." Wufei observed, matter of factly.

The four other pilot's had gone off after Duo in the hopes of catching him before he totally disapeared. Wufei had told them that this was the valley where Duo had hid his Deathscythe Hell. And the valley was empty now. It was obvious where the large Gundam had lain, a matter of several hours before.

Finding Duo now would be even harder now then it was before, unless Duo got in a battle between now and whenever the mission that he was on was completed. That was the bad thing about the training that the five boys all had in common. When you didn't want to be found, no amount of searching would be any good.

They could all see that Wufei was upset. It had taken several long, painful months for Wufei and Duo to finally get together, and they had been extremely close in the three months that had followed. Trowa could see that Wufei felt a little betrayed at the fact that Duo had upped and left without telling anyone. They all felt more then a little betrayed.

"I suggest that we go back to the safe house and begin trying to find out where and why he went." Trowa said, quietly.

The others' glanced at him, soberly.

"Yes. I want to know exactly what is going on in the head of that braided baka." Wufei growled as he spun around on one heel and stode back into the woods back towards the safehouse.

Quatre glanced after him in concern, but turned to look up at Trowa in surprise as the taller pilot moved to stand beside him, a hand resting gently upon his shoulder.

"It's alright, Angel. He'll be alright." Trowa softly said to the Arabian boy.

"Hmmm..." Quatre replied, pulling away from his friend and heading in the same direction that Wufei had gone off on.

Trowa's brow furrowed, this was quite a mystery. He shook his head slightly before trailing off after the others.

"Okay, this wasn't the way that I had things planned out." I muttered through clenched teeth, as I swerved my Shinigami out of the immediate range of the two Taurus suits that had trailed me since I left Japan.

A series of bullets grazed the right arm of the Gundam but that was the last straw. No more mister nice guy.

"Oi! Shinigami's gonna make you pay for messin' up my new paint job, you bastards!" I yelled in anger as I slammed the thermal scythe into the abdominal region of the Taurus suit nearest to me and grinned in satisfaction the resulting explosion as the suit shattered in half as a result of Shinigami's wrath.

The Gundam leapt gracefully over the ruins of the former OZ suit and whirled around and shot off the mini scythe that was embedded within the left wrist of the Gundam and fired it off at the remaining Mobile Suit. It, too, exploded in brilliant flames.

"Heh...that teaches ya never to mess with Shinigami!" I laughed, grinning as I ran a ran through my unruly long bangs.

I was also worried, although I didn't want to admit it. My mission required the lowest profile possible, and here had breached that requirement. A thought ran through my head, 'The others will know where I am now...'

I sighed and continued back on my journey. There was not much that I could do.

"Here." Heero stated flatly, pointing at his laptop screen.

The others' crowded around the computer much to Heero's reluctance and peered into the screen.

"What is it?" Quatre asked.

"This morning, two of Oz's Taurus suits were destroyed. By the means of destruction, they're saying it was the job of a Gundam. Witnesses who were close by said that it was Gundam 02." Trowa read off of the screen.

Wufei perked up from where he was sitting on the far side of the room.

"What?" He asked, interested.

"Looks like Duo wouldn't keep to the shadow's as he'd wanted to. He's made his appearance." Quatre replied, glancing momentarily over at the Chinese boy, before turning back to the computer.

"Where?" Wufei queried, getting up to shadow the others at the computer.

"He was just leaving Japan when OZ noticed him, but he destroyed the two suits that had engaged him and then continued running. This was about two hours ago from what the reports say." Heero said, non-noncommittally.

"Which direction was he heading in? East, towards central Asia? Or West towards North America?"

"The report says that he was traveling in a westerly direction when they caught up with him, and he continued on in that direction afterwards too." Trowa answered, straightening.

"So we roughly know his destination, North America. Shouldn't we go after him at this point?" Wufei asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

"It would pose too much of a risk if all of us were to suddenly drop everything and go, and plus, North America is a huge continent, God only knows where there he is going." Trowa shook his head.

Heero nodded in agreement.

All of a sudden, Heero's computer beeped, signalling a new message.

The others' scattered around the room as to allow him to read it.

"Nani!" Heero suddenly exclaimed, surprising the others with the level of actual surprise in his usually expressionless voice.

"What's wrong?" Wufei asked, eyes narrowed.

"Dr. J just asked my why I didn't accept my recent mission. I haven't *gotten* a mission recently...unless..." Heero trailed off, glancing at the others.

"Duo." The said in unison.

Heero began typing quickly upon the keyboard.

Mission Parameters...

Assassination of Resistance Cell Leader Helen Smith, of the Northern Unitied States cell. Ms. Smith is becoming too much of a liability...

Peace talks between the Sank Kingdom and OZ are taking place in six days, rumors are is that she is going to be there in an attempt to stop the peace talks and possibly make an assassination attempt on one or both of the two world leaders.

Mission: Silence Ms. Smith, permanently. Peace talks must be allowed to go through... Perform assassination of the Cell Leader in any means that suits the immediate situation.

Peace Talks taking place on April 16, 196 A.C. in OZ American Regional Headquarters...

"This is the mission that Duo stole...but why?" Heero said, quietly, uncertain.

"I know he doesn't particularly *like* assassinations, so why would he willingly steal one, one that was assigned to someone else for that matter?" Wufei commented, not at all knowing what was going on.

"I don't know...I don't know." Quatre replied, running a hand through his platinum blond hair.

Well, at least now we know where he's going. But the question still stands...why?" Wufei muttered, irritated.

"Why don't a couple of us go and see? We know where he's going and pretty much as to when he's going to be there, perhaps we can question him as to why, then?" Quatre suggested.

"Yes. I am definately going to go and find out what is going on with him." Wufei declared, turning and heading towards the stairs that lead to his room on the second floor.

"I am coming with you." Heero stated, matter-of-factly.

"Me, too." Quatre chimed in.

Trowa looked surprised. "Quatre?"

"I just want to help in any way that I can. Please, let me come?" Quare asked, looking to Heero.

Heero shrugged, as he stood up. "Whatever, just don't get in the way." And left before the other could protest.

And the three Gundam pilot's who were leaving left to go and pack for their journey, whatever that may hold.

~*Owari Part Three*~


	4. Chapter 4

Title: "Matters Of The Heart" Part 4/?  
Author: Lacuna Everspring  
Category: Yuoi, Possible Angst?, Alternate Reality  
Rating: N/A  
Pairings: 2x5, 1x4  
Warnings: This is just a little *too* weird... O.o  
Disclaimer: Characters, theirs, not mine, but if I had a million dollars or more... ^_^  
Feedback: Much requested, onegai?

~*^*~*^*~*^*~*^*~

WARNINGS! I'm trying out a couple of new pairings, so just bear with me, okay? ^_^...I'm trying for a 2x5, 1x4, and a 3 as the loner...lol...this could be really interesting, ne?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Part Four

I arrived at my target destination a little after nine-thirty at night. I was exausted, but before I crashed for the nigh/morning, I had to hide my Shinigami so no one would find it.

Two hours later, I left the forested canyon that I had placed my Gundam, and treked into the nearest town, to which off hand the name I couldn't remember. It was written somewhere in my notebook that was in my back pack that was slung over my shoulder.

I just wanted a warm bed and a hot meal in my stomach and a hot shower, not necessarily in that order, mind you. I paused, stretching my limbs tiredly as I surveyed my surroundings.

The town that I had just entered was about three miles away from the OZ American Headquarters, so I'd hike up there tomorrow, the peace conference wasn't supposed to take place until next Wedensday, the sixteenth, today was Thursday, the tenth. I wanted to get there as soon as possible, an try and find the Resistance Leader, to whom I'd been able to find out the general location of where she was hiding at.

I stopped in mid-step as I noticed the small bed and breakfast across the street, one light was burning in the front window. I hesitated. Housing a fugitive Gundam pilot could get you one to three years or death, depending what kind of mood OZ was in at the time being.

I yawned and my body overruled my common sense, as I jogged across the street and paused before the door, then a moment later, knocked against it.

It was a moment later when a middle-aged woman, looking no more then forty-five, answered the door, dressed in a houscoat, her loose, greying black curls hanging around her oval face, her green eyes looked surprised.

"Yes?" She asked.

I smiled, tiredly. "I need a place to stay for the night, do you have a room free?"

The woman hesitated.

"I can pay, I just need somewhere to stay until around lunch time tomorrow and then I'll be gone." I hastily added.

The woman paused a moment, before smiling and opening the door some more so that I could enter. I smiled gratefully at her as stepped inside.

"It's awfully late, what's a boy like you doing up this late?" She asked, leading him up the flight of wodden stairs.

I smiled again. To everyone who didn't know what I did for a living, I looked like just a normal fifteen year old kid, normal indeed..

"I'm travelling on my way over to the next city. I've been goin' since Tuesday morning. I'm meeting my Mom over there." I answered. It wasn't exactly a lie, but it wasn't exactly the truth either. I was on my way to the next city, but not looking for my mother, because I didn't have one in the first place to find.

"And you're travelling all by yourself?" She seemed surprised.

"Yeah. This is the first time I've been out of her sight, so she told me to find somewhere that looked decent to stay the night, and I found this place first." I replied, stifling another yawn. I hated to lie, but in order to keep a low profile I obviously couldn't tell her the truth.

"So what's your name? My name is Sarah Hutchings, by the way."

"My name is..." I hesitated. I was kicking myself mentally for not thinking up a name in advance, blaming it on my exaustion. "My name is Angel." I laughed silently. 'Gee thanks, Wufei, your nickname for me kinda came in handy, I suppose.' I thought to myself, ironically.

"Angel, huh? Kinda unusual for a boy." Mrs. Hutchings replied, with a raised eyebrow.

I shrugged, tugging my braid for her to see as she paused at the top of the stairs on the second floor, waiting for me.

"It come's from having long hair, I guess. My friend thinks that I earned my name by having long hair and looking like a girl." I snorted, amused, shaking my head as we continued down the hallway. That much was true anyways.

She laughed, as she pushed open the last door in the hallway on the left side, leading me inside.

"Make yourself at home, Angel. I know its late, but have you eaten supper yet?" She asked, eyeing me with amusement as I took in the sights.

The room was about 5 meters by 6 meters. a double bed was on the far side of the room. The walls were painted in a deep pastelly-color of blue . The bed had a blue and rose colored floral print duvet on it with huge fluffy pillows.

I looked at her sharply in surprise."Ummm..."

She laughed. "I can hear your stomach all the way over here." My face reddened, embarrassed.

"No, I guess I didn't. I was in too much of a hurry to make it to where my mother was, I didn't want to stop and eat, and I forgot all about it." I scratched the back of my neck in embarrassment.

Mrs. Hutchings grinned, tapping me lightly on the shoulder as she passed me.

"That's okay. I'll go down to the kitchen and make you something. In the mean time, there is an ajoining bathroom over there if you wanted to freshen up or anything."

I smiled lop-sidedly. "Thanks! I think I will."

She nodded before retreating from the room, closing the door behind her.

I waited a moment until I heard the creaking of the stairs of the woman going down the stairs, then I dug in my backpack and removed my trusty laptop and plugged it in, unplugging the phone and hooking up the internet connection and logged on to the net.

I began a search for any signs of movement from my friends, and a few moments later my search showed up what I had feared. There had been a sighting three hours ago in southern North America, meaning that if they kept travelling they could be here by eleven-thirty in the morning, meaning that I would have to be out of here early in the morning, by nine at the latest. So much for sleeping in.

I logged off the net and entered in to the program that had the vital statistics of my Gundam in it. Ever since I had gotten into that battle with OZ at the Japanese border, one of the systems had been acting up. It wasn't a vital system, but just important enough to warrant minor concern. It could be fixed in a matter of a couple hours, and I had some extra parts with me just incase something did happen. Hard to believe, Duo Maxwell actually thinking ahead, who'd a thought?

I laughed in irony at the thought and I didn't hear return into the room until I heard her take a sharp intake of breath in surprise.

I hit the power button, turning off the laptop as I whirled around, slapping a surprised smile on.

"That was a Gundam blueprint, wasn't it?" She asked, voice small, as she placed the plate of sandwiches on the desk beside me.

"Uh...why do you ask?" I asked, uneasily, knowing full well that my cover could have been blown by my carelessness.

"The Gundam's have been nothing but trouble, causing OZ nothing but trouble. We just want peace, and they keep stirring things up just when OZ starts to bring peace. I wanto to know why you have the blueprints of a Gundam!"

I groaned internally. I had to board at am OZ sympathisers house, just my luck. I had to think quick, think of an answer that would mollify her.

"...My brother was in OZ, and he was killed a few months ago by one of the Gundams. I was just studying this information so that I could find their weaknesses so that I can avenge my brothers death." I quickly replied, stomach churning for the fact that I was technically defending them, when in actuallity I was really trying to destroy them, and also, the fact that I was saying that we Gundam pilots *were* troublesome. Oi, the things I get myself into...

"Really? Then shouldn't you give this information to OZ, instead of keeping it to yourself?" She asked, sounding somewhat mollified.

I nodded. "That's what I mentioned earlier, I think. I'm heading to the next town over, where theres going to be a big conference between OZ and the Sank Kingdom. I was going to give it to one of the OZ representitives there." I replied, while thinking *NOT*, to myself.

She finally smiled. "You look like a good kid, Angel. Just don't go getting yourself into any trouble." She said.

Trouble, me? Hell, no! Been there, done that. "Not very likely, but thanks for the concern, Mrs. Hutchings." I answered.

"Chi! These sandwiches look great! Arigato...umm...I mean, thanks." I corrected, wincing, slightly.

She raised an eyebrow. "You speak Japanese?"

I nodded, reluctantly. "I've lived in Japan for the last nine months, I just got back to the States last week." I answered. "My one of my roommates over there was Japanese, so I kinda picked some of it up. After a while, it just comes a little naturally.:" I explained, quietly, shrugging.

She looked at him oddly, before turning to the doorway. "Well, I'll leave you be, its late and you probably want to get some sleep before heading off to wherever it is you're going tomorrow."

"See ya in the morning!" I called after her as she closed the door after her.

'Not bloody likely. I don't think she bought my story one little bit.' I thought to myself, as I finished off the two sandwiches that she had given me, ham and cheese with just a hint of honey mustard. It was surprisingly good.

I stood up and stretched, stretching my aching being in a somewhat cramped cockpit for two days and then sitting in a rather uncomfortable chair for a little over an hour did kinda screw up the muscles. I think that it was the longest time ever for me to be sitting in one place.

I took my backpack and stepped quietly into the bathroom, leaving the door ajar slightly. I set my bag down upon the toilet seat after I put the lid down, and proceeded to strip off my clothes. A nice hot shower was just what I needed to help relieve some tension.

I turned on the water and waited for it to heat up to the temprature that I liked, in the mean time, I undid the tie that held my long, clestnut hair in its' efficent braid, combing it out with my fingers, feeling the silky tips brushing lightly against the back of my knees, as I grabbed the bottle of strawberry scented shampoo that I had brought with me, and stepped inside the shower, reveling in the feel of the steaming liquid spraying into my upturned face.

A hot shower, was the one small thing that I could enjoy in this damned mission.

"I'm sorry, Wufei. I'll be back soon, I hope." I whispered to no one in particular as I closed my eyes and rested my head against the tiled wall of the shower.

~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~

Sarah silently pushed the guestroom door open, once she heard the sound of running water coming from the bathroom, and the water hitting off of a body.

She snuck into the room, carrying a small, flat, black object in her hand. She crept over to the computer, and flicked on the switch of the boy's computer, turning it on.

What Sarah hadn't told the boy was that she was one of the informants for OZ in this town, meaning that anything she told OZ about the Gundam pilot's or anything regarding the growing resistance sect that was growing in the area would not go unrewarded.

She had worked for OZ briefly for a few years a while back, but had to retire due to health problems, but continued to serve her company in an 'informal' matter. She had once worked in the computer division of OZ, meaning that she was very good with computers.

In a matter of minutes, she came to the main screen of the laptop, she entered the harddrive of the laptop, and then inserted the object that she had brought with her into the room, a double density disk, and she proceeded to download the contents of the hard drive.

As she waited for the download to complete, she nervously kept an eye upon the bathroom door that the boy had crelessly left partially open, keeping her informed of his movments inside.

Sarah doubted the accuracy of half of the things that that boy had told her. And she suspected that he had some connection with the Gundam pilots, how she didn't know.

About half an hour later, she heard signs of the boy getting ready to get out of the shower, luckily, the search had just completed and she quickly removed the data disk and logged off of the computer, leavng it turned on, and hasitly departing the room, silently closing the door behind her and dashing down the hall and locking herself into her office.

~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~

Reluctantly, I shut off the stream of hot water that cascading down over me warmly, and stepped out of the shower, taking one of the towels that the woman had placed upon the counter, I placed one around my thin waist and used one to towel some of the moisture out of my loose, dripping, knee-length hair.

I paused as I heard movement in the main room just beyond the doorway to the bathroom, I dropped the towel I was using to dry my hair and hesitantly stepped into doorway, peering through bangs that were pasted awkwardly on my face, into the dimly lighted room.

There was no one there...

I frowned, I had been certain that there had been someone out there, but, I guess my sleep-deprived nerves were just imagining things, it wouldn't have been the first time. I snorted in amusement at that thought, as I headed back into the bathroom, grabbing the towel I had dropped, and grabbing my bag.

I headed back out into the main room, tossing my bag onto the bed, and I continued wringing the excess moisture out of my hair. Once done with that task, I rummaged around in my bag and dug out my trusty brush, and began attacking my hair with the brush.

Half an hour later, I yawned, nearly falling asleep sitting up as I finished brushing my hair.

Throwing on a pair of boxers, and setting the alarm on my watch to wake me up at five in the morning, so that I could get out of here early. I threw down the covers on the bed and crept underneath, welcoming the warmth of the duvet, and fliicked off the light. I closed my eyes and prepared for sleep, but something kept knawing at me in the back of my mind, something to do with the sound that I had heard earlier.

With a frustrated sigh, I realized that at one o'clock in the morning, at this rate, it was unlikely that I'd get *any* sleep. I flicked on the lamp that was on the nightstand beside the bed and sat up, scrutinizing the room.

Nothing seemed out of place, my bag sat on the chair by the desk where I had left my laptop, my laptop buzzed steadily, the standby program come into effect a while before, the bedroom door was closed...

"Wait a minute! " I mumbled, throwing down the covers reluctantly, and padded over on thick, powder blue carpet to the desk and hit the space bar on the computer, removing the standby mechinisms and revealing the desktop, starting screen of the computer.

My brows furrowed. "I thought I turned this off when she came in, earlier?" I shrugged, not adding two and two together as I shut off the laptop with a flick and returned to the warm embrace of the bed, in slumber.

~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~

~*Owari Part Four*~


	5. Chapter 5

Title: "Matters Of The Heart" Part 5/?  
Author: Lacuna Everspring  
Category: Yuoi, Possible Angst?, Alternate Reality  
Rating: N/A  
Pairings: 2x5, 1x4  
Warnings: This is just a little *too* weird... O.o  
Disclaimer: Characters, theirs, not mine, but if I had a million dollars or more... ^_^  
Feedback: Much requested, onegai?

~*^*~*^*~*^*~*^*~

WARNINGS! I'm trying out a couple of new pairings, so just bear with me, okay? ^_^...I'm trying for a 2x5, 1x4, and a 3 as the loner...lol...this could be really interesting, ne?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Part Five

It was eight-thirty in the morning when Wufei, Heero and Quatre arrived at the small remote town on the edge of the city where the conference was planning to take place the following week.

"Where should we look?" Quatre asked, looking around, mildly curious.

"I presume that he came in late, so he'd be looking for a place to stay to get a couple of hours sleep. He's been travelling for almost forty-six hours, ho logically he'd be exausted." Wufei said, distractedly, taking in the quietness of the town.

"Hn." Heero replied, agreeing.

"Due to his training as a Gundam pilot, I don't think that he's stay somewhere as obvoius as a motel or a hotel or anything. So I would think that depending how low profile he's trying to stay, he might be at a small inn or bed and breakfast place or something like that. What do you guys think?" Quatre suggested, looking from his lover to Wufei.

Wufei raised an eyebrow. "I believe I noticed a bed and breakfast place when we first came into the town." He stated.

"Let's go check it out?" Quatre asked, the others nodded, as Wufei restarted the car and began to drive back to the destination he spoke of.

~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~

Less then five minutes later, they arrived at the Victorican-style house, that rested gently within a lawn of clean, green grass. Gardens carefully tended and neat. A sign rested near the front edge of the lawn, neatly stating: "Hutching's Bed and Breakfast".

The three boys stepped out of the car and headed up the sidewalk, stopping before the front door. Wufei rapped upon the front door, feeling rather confident about them finding Duo, red-handed.

A few minutes later, a woman opened the door, dressed in a pair of beige pants and a navy blue blouse. Her greying black hair was tied back in a ponytail, with loose strands hanging around her ears.

"Can I help you? Are you looking for a room?" She asked, smiling, opeing the door and indicating that the boys should enter.

The three boys entered silently, and the woman guided them to the living room.

She turned around, her expression surprised. "I'm sorry, I haven't even introduced myself yet. My name is Sarah Hutchings, I run this place." She said.

"We're not here for a room. We're looking for a friend, we suspect that he might have come through here and needed a place to stay. Our friend doesn't like staying at big establishments so we thought that we'd check some of the smaller places." Quatre explained, smiling at the woman.

A flicker of fear flew across her expression before she replaced it with a confident smile.

"I'm not sure. What's his name and what does he look like?" Sarah asked, clasping her hands on her lap after she sat down in the small plush chair that sat by the black woodstove that was in the left side of the room, after offering the boys a seat upon the couch.

"He has long hair that's always done in a braid, it's a chestnut brown in color. He has violet eyes and is really talkative and cheerful. His name is Duo." Quatre said.

"Hmmm... Name is Duo, huh?" Sarah replied, deep in thought.

"Do you know anything?" Heero asked, tersely.

Sarah looked up. "Well, there was a young man who came in here late last night, at around eleven-thirty, he fits your description. But, his name wasn't Duo. He said his name was Angel." She answered, looking at Wufei.

"...Angel?" Wufei replied, sounding surprised.

Sarah nodded.

"So, where is he?" Heero asked, Wufei thinking about the womans reply.

Sarah raised an eyebrow. "You missed him, he left this morning at about six o'clock. He said he was in a hurry that he had some 'unfinished business' to take care of. Whatever that meant."

"Did he say where he was going?" Quatre asked, tilting his head slightly.

"He said he told me that he was meeting his mother at the conference, he said he hadn't seen her in a long time, I think, at least that's what I got out of the conversation anyways." Sarah shrugged.

Heero raised an eyebrow. "His mother?"

Sarah nodded again. "Yes."

"Honto ni...?" Heero whispered more to himself then to the others.

"Anyways, thank you for the information. It really helped." Wufei answered, forcing himself to be polite.

"Glad to help. I hope you find him." Sarah replied, smiling.

The boys thanked her again before departing.

Sarah watched the three teenagers get into a car that was parked across the road than then drive away.

As soon as she could no longer see them, she turned and rushed up the stairs quickly, up to her office.

She quickly booted her computer and inserted the disk that she had taken the night before, opening the data.

Her eyes widened in surprise.

Gundam pilot 02, Duo Maxwell. The braided boy who stayed the night at her home. He wasn't a collaborator with the Gundam pilots, he *was* a Gundam pilot.

Sarah reached for the phone that was sitting beside her computer, absently. Pressing the first number on her speed dial. After two rings, the other side answered.

"Yes, It's me, I need to talk to Duke Dermail, now. It's urgent."

~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~

"We nearly had him. By a mere three hours!" Quatre exclaimed, frustrated.

"At least we got some more information about why he's here. Sarah said that he was gong to see his mother, but Duo had already made it known to us that he was an orphan, so he cna't be seeing his mother." Wufei growled, annoyed, not being able to rationalize his lover's behavior.

Heero frowned. "True..."

Wufei glanced at the stoic pilot. "...But?"

"I heard him mention that when he was a child, he lived at Maxwell Church."

"Yeah, so? We knew that much, but what does that have to do with this 'mother' thing that he's making up?" Wufei retorted, glaring at the Wing Zero pilot.

" He once mentioned that there was a Sister there that he was very close to, he also said that she and Father Maxwell wanted to adopt him because they didn't want someone elso to, they loved him. When Duo and I were boarding together, I heard him singing a song to himself as he brushed his hair before going to bed. He said that Sister Helen used to sing that song to him when he had nighmares and couldn't get back to sleep. He said that she was like a mother to him, and the only one that he'd ever known." Heero explained, using up about a months worth supply of words. (^.^)

"He refered to Sister Helen as a mother? The one that took care of him back then?" Wufei asked, sounding surprised that Heero knew that much about the Shinigami pilot's past.

Heero nodded, silent.

Quatre frowned.

Wufei noticed that. "What is it, Quatre?"

Quatre looked up. "Do you remember the name of the person that was so be assassinated in the mission that Duo stole?"

"The Resistance Cell Leader, her name was Helen Smith... Wait a minute. You aren't seriously suggesting that this woman is Sister Helen are you? Duo said that she died in his arms a little over seven years ago during the Maxwell Church Massicre." Wufei protested, annoyed.

"But... Why else would Duo do something like this? Steal a mission, completely erase it to try and go find the target himself. Why would he try so hard to stay ahead of us? The mission was assigned to Heero, and and we all know that you will do almost anything to complete a mission. If Duo had even the remotest belief that this person was who he thought it was, why would he go to such lengths to keep the mission from Heero and buy himself time to get to her, if it really is her." Quatre said, matter-of-factly, as he looked from between Heero and Wufei.

"Hn." Heero replied, sounding non-commital.

Wufei didn't say anything.

"No offense, Wufei. But why would he try to leave with out saying goodbye to you and us. Because he prpbably thought that we'd talk him out of it or something like that." Quatre said, quietly, lowering his head slightly.

Wufei glared at him, unwilling to acknowledge the possible truth in Quatre's words, despite how impossible they may seem.

Wufei turned his gaze back to the road, jaw clenched, as he stared at the seemingly neverending road before him.

Only five more days until he saw Duo again. Five more days until the Peace Talks. Five more days to find out if Duo was going to become a liability to the Gundam pilot's mission.

Only five more days...

~**~**~**~**~**~  
Owari: Part Five


	6. Chapter 6

Title: "Matters Of The Heart" Part 6/?  
Author: Demetria Usher  
Category: Yuoi, Possible Angst?, Alternate Reality?  
Rating: N/A  
Pairings: 2x5, 1x4  
Warnings: This is just a little *too* weird... O.o  
Disclaimer: Characters, theirs, not mine, but if I had a million dollars or more... ^_^  
Feedback: Much requested, onegai?

~*^*~*^*~*^*~*^*~

WARNINGS! I'm trying out a couple of new pairings, so just bear with me, okay? ^_^...I'm trying for a 2x5, 1x4, and a 3 as the loner...lol...this could be really interesting, ne?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Part Six

I rode into the city at around ten o'clock, with a middle-aged man who kept staring at me in the most *disturbing* way. I sighed, this ride would be over soon, so I wouldn't have to deal with him for much longer.

Ten munutes later, the man dropped me off where I requested, at the corner of a worn down section of town, notorious for all of its condemned buildings that the city was too lazy to demolish. It was in one of these condemned buildings where I would hopefully find my target.

Slinging my backpack over my shoulderand tugging the rim of my black cap lower over my eyes, I started to head across the street, when all of a sudden I saw a flash of movement on the far side of the street, darting in between the spaces between two condemned buildings. Tightening my grip on my bag, I hurried after who ever it was.

As I entered the alley, I heard the slam of a door, but no sign of the mystery person whom I had seen. I walked slowly deeper into the alley, cautiously looking around for any signs of movement.

"Stop right there, unless you feel like dying today." A sharp voice shouted from behind me.

I whirled around to see four people behind me, each pointing a gun directly at my head, and turned again to see three more people also armed with guns come from in front of me.

'Gee... today wasn't a good day.' I thought as I raised my hands above my head, indicating that I had no weapons in my hands.

One of the men from my left side, came over and briskly patted me down.

"Oi! Getting a little personal there!" I commented, smirking.

The man glared at me. "Give us one good reason not to shoot you where you stand, kid?"

I swallowed. "Ummm... are you guys a part of the North American resistance?"

He eyed me suspiciously. "Who wants to know?"

I smiled uneasily. I was hoping strongly that these were the people I was looking for, if not, I was going to be royally screwed.

"My name is Duo Maxwell. I'm a Gundam pilot and I really need to speak to your Leader." I said, rather hastily. I hated having at least seven guns trained on me, it does tend to make you think a little bit antsy.

The man raised an eyebrow. "Oh really? And why would a Gundam pilot come here? Most of them are hiding somewhere in the far east. Why are you really here?"

I hesitated. "One of my fellow pilots recieved a mission, that mission is to assassinate your Cell Leader when she tries to stop the Peace Talks this coming week. I just found out a couple of days ago just *who* your Leader was, so I came here in advance to try and stop my friend from killing her. You have to believe me!" I said, gripping the strap on my bag more tightly.

The men were clearly uncertain as to what to do. They spoke to themselves quietly.

"If you have to arrest me, go ahead. If you want to use me as leaverage for your sect against OZ, go ahead. Just please let me see her, let me see your Leader!" I demanded, unsuccessfully trying to hide the tone of desperation in my voice.

The man closest to me sighed, and then grabbed my arm firmly, dragging me farther down the alleyway, to a door that was painted with some strange material that made it blend in with the wall, the same brick-like texture and color.

He opened the door and pushed me inside, his men following in behind us. He led me down a flight of stairs at the end of the hallway and we stopped infront of a wall in a dead end hallway. The man opened up a fuse box and inside there was a retina scanning machine. He got scanned and suddenly the solid stone wall slid aside to reveal an elevator.

I was pushed inside as the doors closed behind us. A minute later the door opened and we stared walking down a long, seemingly empty hallway that was lined with doors, the walls painted in a sickly grey-green color.

At the end of the hallway, the man beside me unlocked the door, and I was pushed inside a holding cell, tripping on the rough floor, I fell to me knees. A small dim room with no furniture and a damp smell to it, that was where I was placed.

"Wait here. I have to inform our Leader about you. If she deems it important enough, she might be down to see you, although I doubt it. Don't even think about escaping." He glared from the open doorway.

I stood up, brushing off my black pants, returning a glare of almost equal caliber of Heero's trademark 'Death Glare'.

The door was slammed shut and I heard the lock click, sealing me into this room.

"And remind me next time to not use my credentials as a way of not getting killed, that might of been an improvement..." I snorted, ironically.

I was having such a wonderful week so far, geeze. If it hadn't of been for this damn mission, none of this would be happening right now. I would be happily spending time at home with the other pilots. Bugging Heero, teasing Trowa, telling stories with Quatre... and spending time alone with Wufei...

I sighed, sitting down again on the floor and leaning back against the wall, pulling my knees to my chest and clasping my arms around them. I rested my chin on my knees, after tossing my bag carefully on the floor next to me.

I wondered if I ruined what I had with Wufei by running away like that, offering no explanation to him *or* the others. I hated having to hide and run away. It stood against everything that I believed in.

So much for the "I might run, I might hide, but I never lie" motto. I ran, I hid and I had to lie to hide my trail so that the others wouldn't find me. I laughed self-depreciatingly. If I were to die down here, they wouldn't ever know what had happened to me...

That thought depressed me even more. I'd never see the others again. Most of all, I'd never see Wufei again, never get to make love again... let alone tell him how much I loved him...

I was jolted out of my depressing reverie by the sound of the door opening. Glancing quickly at my watch, I'd been in thins room for almost an hour, joy.

I stood up quickly, squinting my violet eyes against the light of the hallway. The person standing there was sillouetted by the light, so that I couldn't easily astertain the person's identity. The person was presumably a woman, due to the shoulder-length wavy hair. She stood at around 5'5, and looked to be slender.

"Duo?" The woman whispered, a disbelieving quality to her voice, her breath coming in quick gasps, leaving me to believe that she had run all the way here.

"Yeah?" I replied, cautiously, tensing subconsciously.

"God! I thought that you had died!" She replied, sounding shocked still.

I raised an eyebrow. "I'm afraid that the rumors of my death were greatly exaggerated."

The woman strode into the room and threw her arms around me, tightly. My eyes widened, the smell... *her* smell. The pieces of the puzzle clicked into place.

"Sister Helen?" I squeaked, myself sounding as disbelieving as she had a moment before.

She pulled away, I could see her now. Her hair was brown, but with streaks of grey. Her grey-blue eyes dancing, happily. My God, it was really her.

"It's been seven years since anyone called me that." She replied, laughing.

I smiled, the woman that I have dearly loved at my time at Maxwell Chuch, was not dead as I had thought, she was alive, so very alive.

"Am I staying in this room forever?" I asked, glancing around, eyeing the room.

Her eyes widened. "Oh, no! I'd have got you out sooner, but-"

"Nevermind, I'm sure you had your reasons. Can we leave?" I asked, impatiently.

She nodded emphatically. "Yes. Come on. I'll get you your own room, so that you can get comfortable and cleaned up. Then we can talk?"

I grinned, nodding as I picked up my bag and reslung it over my shoulder. Helen gestured the way out and I stepped cautiously out into the hallway, and she led me down three doorways and we went through the door and strode down another flight of stairs.

Down another long hallway, but this one had many people walking through it.

Helen smiled and nodded at the people who passed her.

"So, what's exactly going on here?" I asked, my eyes looking back and forth between her and the people that passed us.

Helen glanced at me. "We're the Resistance Cell for North America, at least the north western area anyways. We try to annoy OZ as much as possible." She snickered.

"I take it that Wedensday's conference is a prime example of annoyance?" I asked, irritated.

She looked at me sharply in surprise. "You know about what we're doing?"

I snorted. "Of course. I'm just glad I got to you first, though." I replied.

"What's that supposed to mean?" She stopped, almost angerily.

I crossed my arms over my chest. "Maybe we can talk about this somewhere more private?"

She hesitated, before nodding. We entered another hallway and she pushed open a doorway on the rightside of the hall, she led us in, indicating that the guards should wait outside. Locking the door behind her.

"This is the room you'll be staying in for the duration of your stay here. Make yourself comfortable." Helen offered, sitting in the armchair on the far side of the room.

I glanced around carefully, taking in the surroundings. To the left was the bedroom through that doorway, and on the right, was the bathroom. I carefully tossed my bag on the bed and stretched, before returning to the main room of the suite where Helen waited for me.

"Is the room okay? " She asked.

I nodded. "S'okay. So?" I asked, plopping down bonelessly upon the couch, leaning my chin upon my hand.

She laughed. "You've barely changed, Duo." She lowered her head, almost sadly. "That's not true, you have changed, you've grown up."

My eyes widened. "Sister?"

She laughed, self depreciatingly. "I'm the one whose been living in the past."

I frowned.

Suddenly, she looked up, a half-hearted smile on her face. "So, Duo. How are you? What have you been up to since... since.."

I tilted my head. I understood what she was feeling, I knew all to well the feeling.

"I know why you're planning the assassination on Wedensday, Sister Helen." I said, quietly, changing the subject while playing absently with the end of my long braid.

She looked up, surprised. "You do?"

I nodded, somberly.

"Wedensday is the eighth anniversery of the massicre at Maxwell Church."

~**~**~**~**~**~**~  
Owari: Part Six


	7. Chapter 7

"Matter's Of The Heart" By Lacuna Everspring

Chapter 7

~*~

They say that time changes most of us. I hoped to think that wasn't true of most of us, but I couldn't help but feel the statement's accuracy in her.

When I first returned to the Church after it had first been demolished by OZ, I had been filled with an uncontrollable anger and rage. I had sworn that I would get my revenge against those bastard that had destroyed my family, Father Maxwell, Sister Helen...

But now, nearly eight years after that tragic day, I find out that in fact I was never alone, I wasn't the sole survivor of the massacre. The woman who was the closest thing I had to a real mother, Sister Helen, the woman to whom I had been positive had died in the attack, didn't die at all.

But, I wasn't the only one to want revenge for the loss of those two hundred people. I was fighting with the Gundams, my way of destroying those who had murdered the innocents at the Church. I was fighting for peace so that there wouldn't be anymore Maxwell Churches, no more destruction. But, Sister Helen, although we wanted the same outcome, we fought in totally different means. Which one was right? Which was wrong? The road to Hell is paved with good intentions, and ours were good, but...

I can only wonder, is the way we're going about this right? Is there another path on the way to peace that would be better for all involved? I could only wonder.

I knew that I had to change her mind. She desires her revenge, and to go about that, she wanted to destroy both representatives at the conference on Wednesday. I knew that if she did that she would destroy any chances at peace that could possibly come about that day. Her determination was rock solid.

Somehow... I have to change her mind. I don't want her to be killed. Not after I've finally found her.

Sister Helen, please change your mind.

~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~

Heero, Quatre and Wufei checked into a safe house that Quatre had arranged before leaving Japan. It was a three bedroom bungalow in a quiet residential area not far away from the OZ American Headquarters.

"I wonder where in town that Duo is?" Quatre asked, softly, his voice worried.

"Gods only knows where that braided baka is." Wufei growled, pacing across the kitchen where the boys all sat around the kitchen table, except of course for Wufei.

"I'm sure he'll be fine, Wufei. It's only going to be five more days until we see him for sure if we don't see him sooner." Heero stated absently, working upon his laptop.

Wufei snorted. "Whatever. I'm going to go to bed, considering we didn't go to sleep last night, after trying to narrow the distance on Duo." Wufei muttered, striding out of the kitchen and a door slamming could be heard from the kitchen.

Quatre sighed, resting his chin on his crossed arms that were resting on the table.

"Heero?" Quatre asked, softly.

"Hn...?"

"Do you think that their relationship will make it?"

Heero looked up. "You're asking me?"

Quatre sighed, getting up, and moving to his lovers side, and plopping himself on Heero's lap, much to the latter's protest. Quatre placed his arms around the Wing Zero pilot's strong neck, kissing him lightly on the cheek.

Heero snorted. "I suppose it depends, I guess."

"Depends?"

"It depends if Duo comes back to try and repair things, the longer he's gone, the harder it is going to be to fix things." Heero replied, meeting Quatre's eyes.

"I hope he does." Quatre whispered, before meeting his lips with Heero's in another kiss.

~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~

I had been given permission to come and go whenever I pleased, by Sister Helen herself.

So after checking around the city maps on my laptop, I found the safehouse that the others were staying at in the city. I discovered that not all of the Gundam pilot's were here in the States, it looked to be only Quatre, Heero... and Wufei.

I lowered my head. I had to go and talk to them, make them understand why I was here, I silently walked up the path leading to the front door of their safehouse. I hesitated before the door, before taking a deep breath for determination, and knocked upon the door. A moment later, Quatre answered the door, looking mildly annoyed, but upon seeing that it was me, his jaw dropped in surprise.

"...D-Duo?" Quatre asked, surprised, then grabbing my arm and dragging me inside, into the kitchen where Heero was sitting at the kitchen table working upon his laptop.

"Heero! Look!" Quatre declared, smiling happily.

Heero glanced up, and actually looked surprised. "Duo?"

I scratched the back of my head in embarrassment. "Uh... hi." I replied, not sure of what I should be doing.

"Where the hell have you been." Heero growled, shutting off of his computer, and standing up.

I blinked. Geeze, he looked pissed. Well, as pissed off as I've ever seen him.

"I can't say. But, I'm sure you've probably figured out some of the reasons for what I did." I replied, lowering my head, my long bangs hiding my face.

"We have our suspicions." Quatre answered, quietly.

"It was a mission. Missions are meant to be followed and completed to the Scientists demands." Heero declared, meeting my eyes with a glare.

My fists clenched. "But when does the price get too high? Are we to always blindly follow every single order that the scientists give us?!" I shouted, frustrated.

"..." Heero glared.

"What's going on?" A voice asked, I turned and saw Wufei enter the room. He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw me.

"Duo... What are you doing here?" He asked, flatly, meeting my eyes steely.

"I knew you were after me, and so..." I shrugged, as if the matter was unimportant.

"Hmph!" Heero retorted, before going back to sit in his seat infront of the computer.

I glanced at him, before looking back at my lover. I took a step forward and hesitated as I saw the flare of anger in his eyes. I stopped and looked down, my hand that had been reaching out for him dropped limply to my side.

"You are so dishonorable, Maxwell! I am ashamed of you. How dare you come back here and naturally assume that nothing would have ever changed in your absence?!" Wufei shouted at me, voice dripping with anger.

My eyes widened, as the truth of his words cut through me. I couldn't meet his eyes. I didn't want to confirm what I already knew was showing in his eyes. And by calling me by my last name, showed me that he no longer had any respect for me, deeming me unworthy of being called by my first name.

I looked up. "I know how angry you are with me, Wufei. I knew that when I came back I wouldn't be greeted with open arms. I understand that, and I understand if you hate me now. But, I just felt that I had to let you know that I was alright." I paused, turning away, towards the front door.

"...And to say goodbye. Wufei, I still love you, if that means anything to you anymore." I said, quietly, as I departed, silently, refusing to look back.

Everything that had been needed to say, had been said, and we knew where each other stood. They considered me a traitor to the Gundam pilot's, and that I was a liability to them now. The look in Heero's eyes had told me that despite the fact that I had *taken* the mission, he was still determined to complete it.

Three days until the conference. And then we would find out where my true loyalty lay. With Sister Helen, or with my friends, the Gundam pilot's.

A decision that I knew could possibly be the end of me. The death of Sister Helen, the only mother-like figure that I've ever known, or the death of my friendship with the other pilot's, and my relationship with Wufei.

A decision that had lives hanging in the balance. Only three days left to find out.


End file.
